My name is Metal Sonic. I am the most advanced, state-of-the-art android currently in existence. My programming enables me to be the most careful spy and the most bloodthirsty assassin ever to grace this world we live in.

I, am a freaking maid.

I mean, you wouldn't think it would be so HARD for Eggman to create a maid-bot to clean his base. But nooooo. He made me do it. What's more, he always forced me to wear this frilly apron thing when I clean the base, too.

I hope to the Almighty that Sonic decides to take a break and not bust into the base today.

I was currently dusting off some of Eggman's worthless knick-knacks (All egg-shaped, of course) when I heard a crash that did not help cheer me up at all. Growing ever more frustrated, I threw the feather duster I was holding onto the floor and jetted into the next room, where the crash had come from.

The room happened to contain several of Eggman's inventions and experiments, but I digress.

Inside, the two culprits who had caused that noise were desperately trying to sweep a broken jar under a table, whispering amongst themselves. I crossed my arms and watched them for a moment.

The figure on the right was one Metal Knuckles. The figure on the left, was Shadow Android.

I was supposed to protect and teach these units. I had given up on teaching Metal Knuckles anything and contented myself to watching him closely. He acts something like a hyperactive six-year-old. I was doing slightly better with Shadow Android, except his memory gaps were bewildering to say the least.

These memory gaps of his are quite annoying; he doesn't know how to aim projectile weapons (He can shoot, but it's rare that he actually hits something…although once he did accidentally blow off half of Eggman's mustache) or fight opponents hand-to-hand, or how to hack into computer terminals, or anything that is critical for Eggman's robots to know. His knowledge of the world is also sorely limited; and although he doesn't act like a six-year-old, he might as well be one.

I sighed, watching the two's antics while they desperately tried to cover up their mistakes and cleared my throat. The two whirled around, Metal Knuckles' eyes going wide when he saw me and Shadow Android stiffening considerably.

"What are you two doing in this room? You know it's off-limits," I chastised them.

Metal Knuckles fidgeted. "We just wanted to help, and then the jar of the living dead jumped at me and I had to defend myself and then WHOOSH! The world ended but then it broke and we tried to fix it and you came in…"

My logic circuits were about to short-circuit. It was always this way when I tried to speak to Metal Knuckles. I turned to Shadow Android, silently demanding an explanation.

None was forthcoming, however, as his only comment was, "Metal Sonic, why are you wearing a dress?"

I blinked at him. "What?" I asked, looking down at my apron. "Oh, this? It's not a dress; it's an apron. And I'm wearing it because Eggman told me too. Now, let us return to the matter at hand…"

Shadow Android refused to let it go. "I can't take you seriously in that dress," he snickered.

"It is *NOT* a dress," I snapped, grabbing the apron and ripping it off, tossing it on the floor. "And you know you're not allowed in this room!"

Metal Knuckles, sensing he was in big trouble, desperately tried to butter me up so his punishment would be lighter. "I thought the dress looked pretty on you, Metal Sonic," he told me.

A very loud hiss escaped my servo matrix; how many times did I have to tell them it wasn't a dress already? And what is it about these two that gives them the ability to make me so mad? I was about to respond when we all heard a horrifying noise: Eggman's footsteps coming towards the room as he whistled a merry tune!

Metal Knuckles immediately started panicking. "If he sees us here he'll turn us into scrap metal!" he shrieked. "Please, hide us, Metal Sonic! Please, please, we'll be good!"

Shadow Android didn't freak out, but he did seem to be trembling slightly and his eyes looked pleading as he stared at me silently.

The protectiveness chip I had installed to better help me take care of the two (I had discovered online that the best caretakers have an extremely strong amount of protectiveness towards their charges) took over and I nodded, looking around. I found a large closet-like area over to the side and I quickly grabbed their arms, dragging them over to it. "In here," I whispered, getting in after them in order to assure that they would not reveal themselves. "And stay quiet."

The three of us held our proverbial breaths as we heard Eggman enter the room, clap his hands, and rub them together. "Today's the day," he said, in an unnaturally good mood. "Today I figure out how to induce interdimensional travel. Oh, the possibilities!"

After this, he started humming softly as several things clanged together. Metal Knuckles whimpered and latched onto my waist so hard that his fingers made indentions in my hull.

After about five minutes, the door to our closet opened and Eggman stared right at me! Shadow Android and Metal Knuckles were so startled they started to shriek, but I managed to shush them before they could make much of a sound.

Eggman was in such a good mood he didn't quite realize we were in here yet. "Hello, Metal Sonic," he said absent-mindedly, handing me a plant. "Hold this a moment, would you?"

"Yes, sir," I said, taking the plant. Eggman closed the door to the closet and we heard him muttering something about getting ready to test the machine. I was wondering why he would bother to put a plant in a closet.

Unless…it wasn't a closet…

I gasped, grabbing Shadow Android and Metal Knuckles. "We have to get out of here NOW!" I shrieked, but it was too late. The closet—which wasn't really a closet—started to fade out, and us with it. I could see right through all our bodies, and the closet as well now.

"What's happening?" Shadow Android asked, sounding frightened.

"Metal Sonic!" Metal Knuckles shrieked.

"It is alright," I told them, although I was quite worried about this myself. The everything was fading fast.

Just before the darkness took over, however, I saw Eggman straighten up, his eyes widening as he realized something. "Metal Sonic? What's he doing in there?" he asked, looking over to his machine again.

By that time, it was far too late for him to stop his experiment, and the world went black…

When I woke up, my first immediate thought was to ensure that all my body parts were still intact, and then to locate my charges and make sure that all of their body parts were still intact.

A quick search revealed that all three of us were present and accounted for, and so were all body parts. The interdimensional closet we were in seemed to have disappeared into thin air. We were in some sort of dark room, with no windows and only one door. It was quite dark; but as I have night vision I did not particularly care about such things. My foremost concern was to see if my charges were still online. A quick check showed that they were in hibernation mode, but they were fine.

I sighed with relief, then I froze as the door opened. I whirled around, already aiming my weapons when a huge fat man calmly entered the room without a care in the world. My first thought was how it was possible that his teensy little legs could hold up all that blubber, but I deleted that query and told myself to find a way to take periodic breaks from watching Metal Knuckles.

"Who are you?" I asked, not lowering my weapon.

The man gave me an amused look. "Put the gun down Metal Sonic," he said simply. "It's not nice to threaten your creator."

It turns out that for once, Eggman made something that actually works. We really were in another dimension; one where Eggman actually managed to take over the world. Here he was known simply as Robotnik, though.

Robotnik had noticed high energy readings from the interdimensional closet we had come from and had sent his drones to find out what it was. It seems he had either invented or stolen the technology to turn organic Mobians into machines. He admitted he had yet to make a Metal Sonic; he had seen my designation on my internal memory chips, showing that he clearly could care less about privacy or the fact that my memory banks were booby trapped.

Truly, Robotnik had something that Eggman clearly lacked: Cold hearted insanity.

I didn't like Robotnik very much. But the thought of staying with him as his second in command (as he wanted me too) became more appealing after I learned that his Sonic did not have access to Chaos abilities. The way he operated was with the rings; but there were very few rings in this dimension so that meant he was basically powerless against me. Eggman had really poured on my upgrades until Metal Knuckles came along; he'd been so obsessed with defeating a Chaos-charged Sonic that he invented machinery and weapons that Robotnik had never even considered, much less figure out, and I had been given every one.

If I stayed here, there was a very, very good chance that I would finally destroy Sonic the Hedgehog once and for all. Did it really matter which Sonic I destroyed, as long as I was the one who killed him?

"So, Metal Sonic, what do you think of my proposal?" Robotnik asked me after his lengthy explanation of my duties under his regime.

I considered. "This is…a difficult decision to make. May I be allowed to recharge so I will have full use of my metal capacities?"

"But of course," Robotnik said, giving me a smile I wasn't so sure I liked. "Sleep well, and tomorrow we will make our plans to kill the hedgehog."

He sent me with one of his Robian slaves to a recharge chamber where I met up with Metal Knuckles and Shadow Android. It was only as I prepared to recharge that I realized something: I had not told Robotnik I would join him, but he was already making plans as if I had. It was an interesting trait. I wondered if that meant he was overconfident, or if he knew something I didn't.

I hoped it was the former.

It was cold, dark, and it was raining. My hull had been damaged severely; water was seeping in and several warning signs were blaring. Lightning flashed above me for a moment, lighting up the face of my tormentor, my foe, my most hated adversary.

Sonic the Hedgehog gave me an insufferable smirk. "Face it. You just can't beat me, you tin plated freak," he said, curling into a ball and spinning towards me. I heard the unmistakable sound of the metal on my chest being ripped apart and then nothingness, and all the while the cursed hedgehog was laughing at my distress…

I jerked painfully and my optics powered on, revealing myself to be in my recharging center. A small signal in the back of my brain was informing me that I had interrupted the recharging cycle prematurely, but I did not care. My memory circuits had been playing tricks on me. Sonic the Hedgehog had not defeated me that night. The memory was from several years ago; one of my first encounters with him.

The encounter where I first began to hate him.

How much of this memory was accurate I do not know, nor do I care. My logic circuits insist very little is true; the Sonic of my nightmares and the Sonic of reality were very incompatible. But I did hate Sonic. I hated him so that I did not care what was truth or what was false. I wanted him dead. I wanted him dead so badly, I could hardly think of anything else. I had not been allowed to go after him since Metal Knuckles and Shadow Android had been online. Eggman did not want to risk my being damaged beyond repair as I was the only one they would listen too. Neither of them meant to; and in fact, neither of them even know who Sonic is. But they are the reason I can not try to kill him anymore.

"Metal Sonic?"

I whirled to see Metal Knuckles standing outside his recharge center and I felt annoyance rising within me. I had told him to recharge. "What are you doing online?" I asked him.

"You were talking while you were recharging and it made me go online," Metal Knuckles said matter-of-factly.

I sighed, my irritation dying down. "I am sorry I reactivated you. Go back to your recharging. I will turn down my voice matrix so as not to disturb you again."

"OK," Metal Knuckles turned back to his recharge center, but then paused. "Hey, you kept saying someone's name over and over again."

"Did I?" I asked, humoring him.

"Who's Sonic the Hedgehog?"

Hatred spiked every emotional chip I had; I could feel nothing but hatred. The very name of my enemy was enough to drive me over the edge. "Don't you EVER say that name in my presence!" I yelled, and my hand shot out…

The next thing I knew, Metal Knuckles was on the floor, his hand clutching his face. He looked stunned. "Whoa," he said, sounding bewildered. "My memory's all wonky. I think you hit me."

I paused, shocked at his statement and I immediately started to scan my memory banks.

"But you wouldn't do that, cuz you're my pal," Metal Knuckles continued matter-of-factly. "I must have slipped and fell. Well, goodnight Metal Sonic."

I didn't answer him as he got back to his recharge chamber. I was too busy replaying a memory of the last five minutes. To my horror, I found that Metal Knuckles was right. My hatred for Sonic had overwhelmed me, and I had punched Metal Knuckles so hard he had collapsed to the floor.

A deep shame and self-revulsion overtook me as I re-entered my own recharging chamber. What have I done?

My memories continued to haunt me; with interesting new twists; instead of Sonic laughing as he destroyed me, I watched myself laughing as I callously destroyed Metal Knuckles and Shadow Android. I kept jerking out of my recharge chamber; finally I decided to forgo recharging. I had my battery eighty-nine percent charged; that should be more than enough to last me for awhile.

Instead of sleeping, I reviewed my offer from Robotnik and my reasons for wanting to take him up on it. I did not like the fact that the only reason I could think of to stay here was the fact that I could destroy Sonic the Hedgehog. My obsession with him had already caused me to harm someone I have come to…tolerate. This time, at least I knew that I had caused Metal Knuckles no damage; but what if this happened again?

What if, in my determination to destroy Sonic, I also destroyed my charges?

I must…I must write a program in case something like this is in danger of happening. One that nobody, not even that Robotnik, could overwrite so I can do as I choose. But…but what would I want to do if given the choice?

What do I gain by destroying Sonic? I become a thing of death and destruction. Of chaos and revenge and hatred. Do I want that? Is Sonic's death worth that?

But what do I gain by protecting my charges? I become a protector. A teacher. Someone who is admired; someone who is trusted. A being of kindness and compassion. Of order and understanding. Is this what I want? Is this worth giving up the chance to destroy Sonic forever?

What kind of person do I want to be?

After a long time of thinking, I finally made my choice. It took me another hour, but I created an internal virus with orders to target my unwanted programming and destroy it until nothing was left, then to deactivate itself.

By the morning light, one of my Primary Objectives was gone forever, so was any feeling, memory, or emotion that might make me want to complete it. I had chosen, and I could never go back.

The next morning, Robotnik came and took me and my counterparts up to his observatory. It was a glass dome that looked out over Robotropolis; his capital city. It was here that he gave me my choice.

"I know you want to kill that hedgehog," he told me first thing. "I detected the desires in your mainframe and intensified them a hundred fold. By now, you are so consumed with the desire to destroy Sonic you can think of nothing else."

Aha! So that is why I have become even more obsessed with Sonic's downfall since I came here. It was interesting to see what kind of methods Robotnik would use to get his way. He was so downright conniving.

"Your counterparts over there, however, are useless to me. I can't use them. I'm shocked that the Robotnik of your dimension kept them running. But that's a mistake I will not repeat."

"What do you mean?" I asked. Shadow Android looked concerned when he heard this information; Metal Knuckles had no clue what we were talking about and he said as much.

Robotnik ignored him. "Metal Sonic, I noticed you had an objective to protect these two. But now your hatred for the hedgehog should be so intense that it has overridden this objective. But I must make sure. So, I'm going to give you Sonic the Hedgehog. From this day on, I will make no weapons or plans to defeat him. His downfall is completely up to you. But nothing is free. If you want Sonic the Hedgehog…then you will shoot these two right here, right now, in front of me. Shoot them and make sure they are permanently destroyed."

I nodded, activating my weapons as my Primary Objective came online. It was a good thing I had decided to do what I did last night; I wouldn't want to think he had any type of control over me. "What I do now," I told Robotnik as I took aim. "I do because I chose to, not because of anything you have done."

"Metal Sonic," Shadow Android's voice quivered as he looked at my weapon in disbelief. "W-what are you doing?"

"Something that should have been done a long time ago," I said, taking my shot. It was a perfect hit; it landed right where I wished it to go.

Directly between Shadow Android and Metal Knuckles; destroying Robotnik's security monitors and giving the three of us a chance to escape this cursed city.

"Run! Out the window!" I ordered my charges as I rushed Robotnik, bringing my metallic knee into his gut. He gasped as the air left his lungs and I took the time to dive out the window after my two charges.

As the ground came up in front of me, I kicked on my jet boosters and slowed myself down.

My counterparts met me on the ground. "Metal Sonic, what do we do?" Shadow Android asked me in a hurried whisper.

"We have to find the interdimensional transport closet so we can get out of here," I told him.

"Hey look!" Metal Knuckles pointed off in the distance where two SWATbots were looking for something, no doubt us. "It's some robot friends. HI GUYS! WE'RE OVER HERE!"

I barely kept the presence of mind to tackle Metal Knuckles to the ground as the SWATbots spotted us and started shooting.

"Metal Knuckles," I hissed in his ear. "Let's play Quiet as a Mouse. That's when we see who can be very quiet the longest."

"OK," Metal Knuckles whispered, eager to play a new game.

I pushed him and Shadow Android behind a bombed-out building that provided some shelter. "Wait until I lead them away, then double back to the building and look for the transporter. Send me a message through our private signal when you find it and I will come to you. If I do not come within five minutes, however, then you and Metal Knuckles leave. No excuses, no exceptions. Understand?"

Shadow Android nodded wordlessly. I quickly rushed from the shelter and took aim, shooting two SWATbots. Afterwards I kicked my jet rockets to full power and took off in the opposite direction of Robotnik's tower. The SWATbots blindly followed me, leaving the way clear for my counterparts to escape.

I have been drawing the SWATbots' fire for ten minutes. No communications have come from Shadow Android. I'm starting to worry for my charges' safety.

I turned a corner and pulled up short, giving a mechanical version of a gasp.

For there, desperately spin dashing SWATbots for all he was worth, was Sonic the Hedgehog.

He was much shorter in this world, I mused. His quills were also shaped different. And by the way he kept spin dashing without changing tactics, I must assume that Robotnik was right in his observation that this Sonic has no Chaos abilities.

But he also looks younger than my Sonic the Hedgehog, so perhaps he will gain Chaos abilities in time.

Behind Sonic is a squirrel who I've never seen before, wearing a vest and clutching her side; she has been wounded.

In one lighting fast moment I twirled around and grabbed the last two SWATbots who had been pursuing me and crushed them in my claws; these were poorly designed. Robotnik might be more wicked, but Eggman's machines were more powerful.

Now that my own safety was currently assured, I turned back to the scene before me and wondered what I should do. Was Sonic not my enemy? No; I had deleted the programming that made him so. He was my rival, but no longer my enemy. My enemy was Robotnik; a foe that currently the two of us shared.

How does that saying go? The enemy of my enemy…

My decision made, I activated my jet boosters and flew towards the battle, feeling my claws lengthen as I tore them into a SWATbot effortlessly. With one lightning quick movement I zipped to each of the other machines, destroying them just as effortlessly.

As the last one fell, I retracted my claws and turned around, still hovering slightly in the air. I was quite pleased at the shocked and bewildered look on Sonic's face.

"Who are you?" Sonic asked me, proving once and for all that there truly was no Metal Sonic in this world. Although, it wouldn't surprise me if one showed up after I escaped. If I escaped.

The squirrel also looked at me, pain evident in her eyes, but also hope. "Are you a Robian who figured out how to bypass Robotnik's mind control?"

I shook my head. "I am not a Robian. I am a pure machine. My name is…Mecha Bot 02." I had intended to state my name, not just my service number, but something stopped me, although I could not tell you what. "I was designed to destroy Sonic the Hedgehog but…I do not want to. I simply wish to be allowed to leave in peace, but it seems I am unable to do so."

"Don't we all?" Sonic asked wryly, a smirk gracing his features. "But don't sweat it, Mecha, me an' Sal get out of tight spots like this all the time."

The squirrel, who I must believe is Sal, grimaced. "I don't think we'll be getting out of this one, Sonic," she said. "If we go, we're dead. If we stay, we're also dead."

Sonic snorted. "Don't be so negative, Sally, we've been dead before, remember?"

"What is your dilemma?" I asked him.

Sonic shrugged. "We've found out that Robuttnik's new factory's giving off waste that's so toxic it'll kill us all in a matter of days. We have to destroy it now, but we just can't seem to make it there. Security's a lot tougher today for some reason."

Oh-oh. "I'm afraid it is my fault. I decided to make my escape today, which accounts for the security." I thought for awhile, then had an idea. "Where is this factory?"

"It's over on the far side. The one pouring out more smoke than a forest fire, see?" Sonic pointed to the correct building and I nodded.

"I see it. Take your friend and go. I will stop the pollution."

"The explosion will take out half of Robotropolis," Sally argued, shaking her head. "Sonic's the only one who can outrun it."

"I am very fast. I will be fine. And if not, at least I will not have to worry about Robotnik," I assured her.

"Sal, we got no choice, we gotta get you out of here," Sonic said, scooping up his protesting friend. He turned and nodded to me gratefully. "Thanks Mecha, I won't forget this. If you do get out of here alive, go to the Great Forest. I'll keep an eye out for you, ok?"

"Affirmative," I said, even though I have no idea what a Great Forest is. Sonic zoomed off, and I headed for the factories, armed with the detonation devices he left behind.

It took less than a minute to get to the factory with my speed at full throttle. I sighed and armed the detonation packs. I could not wait any longer for my counterparts; I must assume that they escaped. But this factory must be stopped.

As I armed the last pack, a small ping alerted me to a message and I quickly activated my com unit. A small map of the city appeared, along with a dot nearly five miles away. An easy distance, but I must set the bombs off immediately or someone may deactivate them.

Can I escape in time? Depends on whether I'm as fast as I think I am.

I push the detonate button and take off a fraction of a second later. Mere moments after I leave the building a huge explosion rocks it. The heat nearly throws me but I keep my throttle maxed, desperately racing certain doom as I rush for my only way out; the transporter.

It seems like hours, but in reality it was only seconds as I burst into the chamber that the transporter was in, the flames of the explosions literally trailing behind me. Shadow Android grabs my hand and yanks me into the closet as it disappears just before it was too late.

And just like that, we were back in Eggman's lab. He was red faced and furious.

"How many times have I told you yahoos this lab is off-limits! You've really done it this time!" he rants, no doubt preparing horrid punishments for us. "You're all…you're all grounded for a month! No TV, no video games, I don't even want you staring out the window for amusement? Do you hear me? A month!"

I never thought I'd be so happy to hear Eggman's pathetic attempts to punish us. It's so good to be home.